The invention relates generally to bottle carriers and more specifically to a two component, carrier which grips a grouping of bottles about their necks and midsections.
The consumer beverage container market is innovative, fast moving and competitive. Innovative because new materials and processes permit new structural configurations and ornamental designs; fast moving because not only the just-described influences but also the changeability of consumer preferences and trends places a premium on a contemporary package and competitive inasmuch as the high production volume of such containers encourages and rewards low per unit cost. Intrinsically tied to the consumer container market and exhibiting many of the same market characteristics as containers are container packaging products. This is not surprising since as containers evolve so must their packages.
Numerous plural container packages are described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,544 teaches a carrier having a plurality of cinctures or loops which extend about a like plurality of bottles having an outwardly directed circumferential bead about their midsections. The carrier also includes a pair of lifting handles. This device would appear to function only with bottles which have been specially formed to include the circumferential bead. U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,237 teaches a package construction similar to what has become known as blister packing. In addition to an outer shrink wrap, however, the carrier includes a plurality of clips or plastic preforms which maintain the beverage containers in adjacent parallel alignment. Aside from routine difficulties of removing the contents from a blister pack, this configuration appears to incorporate a significant quantity of material and thus its attractiveness from an economic standpoint is reduced.
Specially shaped containers often engender specially shaped carriers and U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,203 discloses just such a carrier. Here, a pair of high-waisted containers are engaged by a single strap having a finger loop disposed at each end. The strap is disposed about the waists of the containers in a figure-eight pattern and the loops are juxtaposed intermediate the containers to form a unitary gripping means. A somewhat related device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,544. Here, a tee shaped or alternate right angle strap is disclosed which is intended for use with containers having peripheral lips such as coffee cans or paint cans. With either strap configuration, a portion of a strap extends about the periphery of the container, directly below the bead and is secured to itself. The remaining portion of the strap forms a handle which stands above the container to facilitate manual engagement. Since no provision appears to have been made in the strap for adjusting its length, it therefore appears that the strap could not be utilized with but one container size inasmuch as the strap must fit snugly about the container if it is to be precluded from slipping past the relatively small lip.